Artem Case Studies

‘Having worked with Artem a number of times in the past, I knew I could rely on their expertise to meet our specific requirements for the project. The masks were just right – recognisable but stylised enough to get the laughs. It’s amazing what Artem managed to produce within such a quick turnaround - they are fantastic problem-solvers - and I would not hesitate to use them again for future projects.’

- Tom Wales, Production Designer

Lucozade’s latest TV ad shows international rugby stars from across the world disguising as players from the home nations in order to fool shopkeepers around the UK into selling them Lucozade Sport.

For the commercial, we created rubber masks, resembling, but not identical to, 4 different home nation players: Chris Robshaw, Stuart Hogg, Leigh Halfpenny (with a last-minute extra mask for the use of a stunt driver) and Connor Murray. It was important to achieve the right artistic feel for the masks – keeping them recognisable, but stylised, in keeping with the tongue-in-cheek tone of the ad. We also had to ensure that the masks were big enough to fit comfortably over the actual heads of the players wearing them.

The masks were first modelled in clay by our amazing Head of Sculpture, Stan Mitchell, before being moulded in plaster and then cast in a rubber latex material prior to painting. We received a few selfies from the rugby players for reference (getting the girls in the office rather aquiver!) with other reference pictures taken from the internet.

Mike Kelt, SFX Supervisor on the job, commented: ‘The short timeframe for the job meant that we all had to chip in with whatever needed to be done, and we all got into the team spirit. It was fun getting my hands dirty again, painting the masks, to ensure that everything was completed in time for the shoot.’